CATHOLICS must attend Mass on the Second Sunday of Advent and Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8 and 9, respectively, as both are holy days of obligation under the Church’s Canon Law.
In separate circulars, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and the Archdiocese of Manila echoed the clarification of the Holy See’s Dicastery on Legislative Texts stating that a feast day, even if transferred to the closest day, is still a holy day of obligation.
“Feasts [must] be observed as days of obligation. The canon does not provide for exceptions,” both documents read, citing the Vatican’s response.
“For those reasons, those feasts are always days of obligation, and so, even when the aforementioned transfer of the feast occurs,” it added with reference to the Church’s Canon Law 1246.
The Vatican made the clarification after Springfield, Illinois Bishop Thomas Paprocki wrote in July asking about the issue of obligation because feast days that fall on a Saturday or Monday are typically no longer a day of obligation.
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception coincides with this year’s Second Sunday of Advent on Dec. 8, prompting the Marian’s feast transfer to Monday, Dec. 9.
According to the General Norms on the Liturgical Year and Calendar, a solemnity shall be transferred to the closest day if impeded by another liturgical day that takes precedence.
Holy days of obligation are days when Catholics must attend Mass without exceptions unless prevented by serious reasons such as illness.
